Nichole Doane promotes documentary to support search and rescue

Nichole Doane was rappelling down a canyon wall in the Pacific Northwest when she made a critical mistake and found herself suspended 100 feet above the ground.

With the rope burning her brake hand, the Seattle area trauma nurse made the quick decision to swing over to a ledge, which likely saved her life but had her falling the remaining 60 feet.

Doane lay on a ledge, halfway down a 265-foot waterfall, thinking that it could possibly be the end of her life. Her companions stayed with her, providing what care they could until several hours later the group heard the rhythmic blades of a rescue helicopter searching for them. 

Doane credits her survival in large part to the daring efforts of the volunteer search and rescue teams deployed to her rescue. A ground team and a helicopter rescue team both navigated their way to the dangerous ledge where Doane had fallen. 

She was provided limited medical care and a volunteer rappelled 100 feet down to her and then got her into a rescue basket to be lifted her up to the helicopter. 

Although Doane survived the day, suffering a broken back and broken pelvis, her life changed drastically as she navigated the long recovery ahead.

Throughout her recovery, she discovered search and rescue groups, to whom she owed her life, are a program that is almost entirely volunteer based. Many mistakenly believe the groups are a service provided to the public by tax dollars. This discovery led to her wanting to give back, and help the heroes who sacrifice their time, money, and risk their own lives to help others. 

Nichole Doane has told her story of this life-altering experience in a documentary called “Where the Rope Ends.” This documentary is now being used to advocate for search and rescue teams all over the country. 

Saturday, April 28, a special showing “Where the Rope Ends,” took place to raise funds for Boundary Search and Dive Rescue. Doane, subject and producer, made an appearance for the showing and held a special question-and-answer session with the search and rescue team. 

In making the film, Doane said she wanted to make sure the dedication exhibited by search and rescue crews did not go unnoticed. 

“I just wanted to make sure that didn’t go unnoticed,” Doane said about the extensive amount of work and funds that volunteers put into their work on search and rescue crews. “I wanted people to know that these kinds of people exist in our community. We need to support them and it’s hard to know that we’re supposed to support them if we don’t know that they are volunteering. If nothing else comes from this movie, I’m hoping that I can correct that false presumption in everyone’s mind.”

The Boundary County Search and Dive Rescue Team has 32 members, who devote a great deal of their time to training and going on calls. Because funds are limited, members also purchase their own equipment, sometimes spending thousands of dollars for proper gear. 

Aside from funds, there are many other ways to support search and rescue, joining the team is one of the best ways to help. Even if you aren’t an outdoor person, the team has a job for everyone and needs all kinds of skill sets. 

The team also invited the community to attend one of their meetings. The next general meeting is 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 13. A meeting calendar and information about Boundary County Search and Dive Rescue can be found online at bsdrt.org.

For more information on “Where the Rope Ends” as well as future showings, visit wheretheropeends.com.